When The Cicadas Cry
by emptyfortunecookie
Summary: Tsuzuki and Hisoka are called to investigate a mysterious string of disappearances in the town of Hinamizawa. At first things go as expected, but eventually the supernatural begins to show an unexpected face, and even Guardians of Death are not immune.
1. Preview

_Description: Tsuzuki and Hisoka are called to investigate a mysterious string of disappearances in the town of Hinamizawa. At first things go as expected, but eventually the supernatural begins to show an unexpected face, and even Guardians of Death are not immune to the whims of gods. Crossover: Yami no Matsuei/Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni  
_

_***_

_Preview._

_Although the idea to split up had originally been his, Hisoka was no longer sure it had been the wisest of plans. Running headlong through a thicket of trees with no end in sight was disorienting at best, terrifying at worst. On top of that, being an empath really didn't give him a better perspective of things, at least not where focusing on the job was concerned. Sure it was handy when dealing with humans, feeling guilt or anxiety, fear or rage gave you a great way to gage the guilty and the innocent. But, when it came down to a soul devouring demon whose only feelings were hunger and rage, well that really didn't give you much to work with except your own choking fear while running away from it._

_Of course Hisoka wasn't certain if his heart pounding was from his own fear (some days he couldn't tell his own emotions from the person next to him) or from the excitement of a so called "Shrine God" that was slowly creeping out of the crevasses of the night to greet him. Still, though his heart pounded, he knew that whatever the reasons were they were no reasons that benefited him. He continued to run until at last he came to a clearing. There were still trees, and if he looked up, stars: as far as the eye could see. Stars and trees surrounded him. Beauty and darkness. Somehow, no matter in what stage of Hisoka's life, these two features always went hand in hand for him. And never had they predicted a good outcome._

_For a moment Hisoka had to stop, if nothing else, to catch his breath. He tried looking around for an exit, but the darkness was as merciless as his pursuer. It showed him no openings. No hope. _

"_Shit!" he exclaimed quietly. He could yell for help. Tsuzuki couldn't have gone too far, but in reality Hisoka knew that even his partner was powerless here. The gods that protected him would not fight the intents of a god that had been wounded and betrayed by its worshipers. Tsuzuki they would protect, perhaps, but Hisoka would be on his own. _

_A sound caught his attention, but it was not that of a bloodthirsty demon. _

_The quiet giggle of a young woman danced its way into his ears. Slowly, he turned, confused by the strange turn of events. His eyes traced a small, slender outline of a young girl with long green hair and dark green eyes. Her build was childlike, if not fairy-like. She was far too slender, even for a young girl, to be human, or at least healthy. Her body was rigid save for her hair which blew in the light wind that prickled his skin. Yet as he stared down at the unnatural form he recognized her. A chill caught him in the pit of his stomach, and for the first time in many, many years Hisoka knew pure fear._

"_Mion?"_

_The young girl of no more than fourteen grinned. There was a deadness to her eyes and voice, but her gaze caught and held him firm.  
_

"_Kurosaki-kun," she whispered. "You've come."_

_Hisoka shifted his stance. He wasn't sure what was going on, but either way he felt that he had best be prepared for the worst. Gods knew what was going on in this town, but he and Tsuzuki had determined a long time ago that none of the inhabitants could be trusted. Regrettably, any friends made along the way were no exceptions._

"_Mion, what's going on?"_

_A devilish, unnatural smile crossed her face. Suddenly, she wasn't Mion anymore. A closer look at her eyes in the moonlight showed that her pupils had become long, narrow slits, like those of a cat's. Although her expression was still dead, there was something very frightening about her tone of voice and the way she now moved._

"_Kurosaki-kun, you ought to have been studying enough to know."_

_Hisoka grit his teeth. _

"_Where are the others?"_

"_They are coming."_

_Hisoka started to speak but immediately stopped himself. To Mion's right, out of nowhere, materialized Rena. Her expression was similar. Then Shion, Mion's twin sister. They didn't move, but their presence, even though they were smaller and younger than Hisoka, was intimidating. These were not the girls that he had been speaking to for the past three weeks. These girls were something different. Entirely different creatures. He sensed a cold blankness, a hunger…and a longing._

"_Shit." He cursed again._

"_I think he's finally getting it," said Rena, a smile slowly crawling across the flesh of her face. _

"_You're all possessed!" He yelled loudly. _

"_You could say that," said Mion again. "Too bad you, like the others, found out too late."_

_Hisoka's face went slack for a moment, and then he realized what a fool he had been. He hadn't been running away from the demon, he'd been running towards it._

_The effort was futile, but he still turned on his heels in an attempt to flee. Self preservation, perhaps. No matter how impossible, we all have to try.  
_

_Before he knew it, what felt like a meat cleaver seemed to have lodged itself into his back. Immediately Hisoka went down, the pain flowing through him but not killing him. Shit. They didn't know what he was, and even if they did, this was going to take a long time to complete. Guardians of Death did not die easily, and Hisoka would be no exception. _

_This would be painful, and long, exactly how the Shrine God would want it to be._

_*** _

_A/N: Preview so far. Expect more updates. I plan on actually finishing this one everybody._


	2. Your New Case

_Three Weeks Ago…_

***

"Tsuzki! Kurosaki!"

Two simultaneous responses.

"Yes, sir?"

"My office. Now."

The two men shared quick, questioning glances before slowly getting to their feet. Others watched with concerned stares. It wasn't entirely unusual for Tsuzuki to be called away to Chief Konoe's office. Even though he was the top Guardian in the district the man was still frustratingly lazy with poor motivation. In fact the only thing that could be said to fully motivate the man was sugar.

His partner, however, Hisoka Kurosaki, was a nicely rounded age of sixteen years old. Quiet. Unassuming.

Reclusive.

Few people bothered to talk to the young man simply because he showed no interested in them. Few knew otherwise, but he was one to always get his work done and kick Tsuzuki's ass into gear whenever no one else could: that in and of itself had rendered Hisoka indispensable to the Ministry and everyone who headed their department. Still, it was unusual to see Hisoka get called away along with his partner in a manner that stated that they had both done something wrong. Perhaps that was why Hisoka had looked so shocked. That was probably why Tsuzuki looked shocked too.

The two men disappeared behind Chief Konoe's door and would not be out for some time.

***

"Is something wrong sir?" Asked Tsuzuki while loosening his neck tie. Hisoka remained characteristically silent.

"Believe it or not, I'm not here to reprimand you this time Tsuzuki," replied Konoe, though his voice and his demeanor remained as gruff as ever.

"Then if I may ask sir—"

"If you'd shut up for a minute I'd tell you."

Tsuzuki did just as he was told. A rarity.

Konoe waited a few moments before starting into details. As in the case of most managers pawning off responsibilities to their subordinates, he started with a question he already suspected he knew the answer to.

"Have either of you ever heard of a town called Hinamizawa? It's small. South of here. Population less than two thousand."

Both men shook their heads.

"Is that even in Kyushu?" asked Hisoka.

"Not even close," Konoe answered without bothering to look up from his paperwork. "But it's a specialty case and I think you two would be best equipped to take care of it."

Tsuzuki blinked. "Why is that, sir?"

A thick manila folder flew to their side of Konoe's desk. It was labeled "CONFIDENTIAL" in large red block letters. The folder was clearly quite old, with a few coffee cup ring stains and pen marks. Some dog eared pages and even pictures were struggling to find their way out of the suffocating bind but to no avail.

"This case study has been going on for years with no success or break in evidence. It's been a huge problem for the Count and others. Countless souls that have been on the roster for years still haven't turned up, and not a single Guardian has been able to locate them. Even the bodies of the deceased are mysteriously invisible. These people are literally _vanishing_ without a trace."

Hisoka frowned openly. "Why us, sir? Why now?"

"Like I said, Kurosaki, I believe the two of you are most capable of getting the job done."

Hisoka picked up the file and started thumbing through it, his expression betraying his level of concentration on the reports and images.

"The reason why this is coming up now is because another victim has just been announced. A young boy of about fifteen years old." Konoe held up a picture. "Keiichi Maebara. Found stashed away in a shed a few miles away from his own home. From the looks of it, he'd clawed his own throat open and bled to death."

"Albeit horrific," Hisoka stated all the while not looking up from the case reports, "that doesn't really qualify as murder."

"It does if drugs were found in his system." Konoe shot back. "Untraceable under normal inspection, but Watari got ahold of a blood sample and showed that there were trace remnants of a specialized type of hallucinogen one can only get on the black market."

"And that is?"

"A very exotic blend that doesn't have a name. However, it had trace amounts of amphetamines, domperidone, and mcpp."

Now Hisoka looked up.

"Ecstasy?"

Tsuzuki smiled, impressed with his young partner's intellect.

"Not quite." Konoe cut him short. "It also had other-worldly elements like Mandrake Root and Wolf's bane."

"What would that do?" asked Tsuzuki.

Konoe held up a picture of the after effects of Keiichi Maebara.

"Okay. Okay!" Tsuzuki shouted. "I get it."

"Do you want us to investigate the drug cartel or the deaths and locations of the deceased's souls?" asked Hisoka very matter of factly. "Because to be honest I don't think we have the qualifications for the former assignment."

Konoe frowned then very slowly placed his chin to rest on his folded fingers.

"I want you to find out what you can. Naturally the displaced souls come as first priority, but anything that you uncover will no doubt be a helpful lead in the investigation. I however want to stress a very important point to both of you before you start this mission."

"Yes sir?"

"If at any point in time you feel that your lives are in danger, you are ordered to abort the mission and return immediately back to the Ministry. No questions asked, and you will not be penalized."

Tsuzuki and Hisoka exchanged quick glances once more.

"Is that…a heavy concern Chief?" asked Tsuzuki with a bit of hesitancy.

"Let me say this. Everyone that has gone to investigate the occurrences happening in Hinamizawa so far have never returned. That goes for Guardians as well as humans. I want to find out what is going on here, but not at the expense of my agents. Find out what you can, but if you find yourself getting in too deep, pull out. We will have an eternity to find details about this case, but we will not have opportunities to replace lost comrades. Especially ones so skilled."

"Right. Of course." Tsuzuki looked down. Hisoka had gone mysteriously quiet. Perhaps he was still lost in the case studies. Tsuzuki hoped it was as much. He didn't like the idea of the both of them being sent away on a possible suicide mission. "Will that be all, Chief?"

"For the moment. Yes. Take a look at the case findings. If you choose to refuse the case, that's fine also. But let me know in twenty four hours."

"Right."

Tsuzuki and Hisoka left the room.

When the door clicked closed, Konoe sighed.

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this."

***

"Well Hisoka, what do you think?"

"I think you pissed either Konoe or the Count off so badly that they now want us both dead."

Tsuzuki looked up toward the ceiling. Hisoka's minor breech towards humor didn't go unnoticed, but he couldn't help but worry about the proceedings of this case. The risks were uncannily high, and why hadn't Tsuzuki ever heard about this case before? After seventy plus years of working for the ministry some part of this case should have sounded familiar.

"I don't think that's it," he replied after the momentary relapse. "If that were the case he would have just fired me."

Hisoka paused, a moment's consideration.

"I suppose you're right."

"So do you think we should take the case?"

"No."

Tsuzuki looked over, a wry smile on his face.

"Then why are you still looking at the files? A stickler for self-punishment, huh?"

Hisoka looked up from the stacks of paper spread across the coffee table. His gaze was hardened while he held up a few detailed reports from now passed Guardians.

"I guess I can't help but shake the feel of familiarity. A small town, close knit, bound together by a local legend about a god?"

Tsuzuki blinked. Hisoka, however, could only help but give a tired smile once he had at last revealed his true intentions for his obsession.

"No matter how bad the stench, you can't sometimes help but being drawn to something that smells like home."

Tsuzuki mentally kicked himself instantly. Of course! This was something Hisoka was familiar with. Perhaps he'd been looking for clues in the paperwork, something the less experienced would have missed. _Now _he understood why Konoe had said they were best equipped for this mission. It had nothing to do with abilities, it was their pasts. Tsuzuki couldn't help but feel a temporary wave of hatred for the Chief, but it soon passed as he watched Hisoka close up the paperwork and pictures.

"I guess I was just getting out some nostalgia," he admitted quietly. "We can give these back to Konoe tomorrow. I'd rather not get tied up in someone else's politics. I had my fill in my previous life."

Tsuzuki afforded a sad smile toward his young partner.

"Of course."

Stretching, Hisoka at last announced that he was going to bed. Tsuzuki said goodnight and decided to spend some time flipping through the television channels in hopes of finding something interesting and, preferably, distracting. Informercial. Infomercial. Infomercial. Late night news. Talk show. Infomercial. Adult programs. Cartoons. Adult cartoons. Informercial.

No matter what era you lived in, late night entertainment was always the same.

With a sigh and stretch of his own, Tsuzuki rolled lazily to the floor and groped at the table for the file. Report. Report. Report. Report. Picture. Report. Report. Newspaper clipping. Report. Death certificate. Report. Interview summary. Report. Blah blah blah.

There's monotony wherever you go, he thought to himself after a while. The case certainly didn't look special. After a few moments of staring into nothing, Tsuzuki decided to take a closer look. He browsed the case reports and the names of the Guardians who had worked on the case previously. He knew none of these names. How could that be? One of these officers, according to the heading on their paper this person had been employed at the Department up until just two years ago. And she had even been in _his_ department.

"What-what the hell?"

Something had to be wrong. Surely that was a typo, or perhaps a mix up of names and departmental heads? It happened every once in a while. But here…here was another name in his department! Filed four years ago! And he had never heard of this person either.

There was something incredibly wrong here. Perhaps there was more to this case than Konoe had mentioned. More to this case than Hisoka could see.

One thing was for certain, tomorrow they would have a talk with the Chief before anything else was said.


End file.
